The present invention relates generally to floor pans of automotive vehicles, and more particularly to a vehicular floor panel for selectively securing a variety of objects to the vehicle and for also providing an aesthetically pleasing appearance.
Automotive manufacturers are well known for producing vehicles with carpeted flooring in the passenger cabins and the cargo areas of the vehicles. Typically, this carpeted flooring is beneficial because it provides an aesthetically pleasing appearance for the occupants of the vehicle. Moreover, the carpeted flooring in the cargo areas can include mounting devices for securing various types of cargo to the vehicle.
A drawback of typical carpeted flooring is that it is comprised of a fabric that is not sufficiently durable for resisting wear and damage. In particular, the carpeted flooring of the cargo areas can experience substantial wear and damage as a result of having cargo frequently placed in those areas of the vehicle.
A proposed solution requires that a protective mat or covering is placed over the carpeted flooring. The protective mat is intended to reduce or distribute the amount of force applied to the carpeted flooring. However, the cargo can still sandwich the carpeting between the protective mat and the floor pan. As a result, the fabric of the carpeting can still be subjected to a substantial amount of loading from the cargo. In this regard, the carpeted flooring can still be subject to wear or damage.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a vehicular floor panel that selectively resists wear and damage yet also provides an aesthetically pleasing appearance when desired.
The present invention provides a vehicular floor panel for attachment to a floor pan of an automotive vehicle. The floor panel is a reversible floorboard having a first surface and a second surface that is opposite to the first surface. This first surface has a fabric covering attached thereon. Additionally, the second surface has at least one mounting device integrated thereon for securing an item to the floor panel. The floor panel also includes at least one fastener for selectively coupling the panel to the floor pan of the automotive vehicle thereby permitting access to either the first surface or the second surface of the floor panel.
One advantage of the present invention is that a vehicular floor panel is provided that includes a first surface with a fabric attached thereon, which has an aesthetically pleasing appearance to the occupants of the vehicle.
Another advantage of the present invention is that a vehicular floor panel is provided that has a second surface with at least one mounting device integrated thereon for allowing a variety of items to be secured to the vehicle.